Storytelling in the world of the Sims

THOTB-9.16

This History of Twin Bayous: It’s Never Easy

Since Dobbs and I returned from Twin Bayous, we had not spoken about the situation between he and his wife. As a result, I had been flying blind for the past few days. I was waiting for that proverbial other shoe to drop. Yet this morning, I sensed that something was up when I heard Dobbs and Wendy talking in the kitchen. The fact that the two of them were carrying on a what sounded like a normal domestic conversation, led me to think that Dobbs was preparing for the moment when he would ask Wendy for a divorce. At one point, it sounded like they hugged and kissed and this made me want to cry.

Every morning the adults would eat separately from the students after the students had gone back upstairs to dress and prepare for the day. At breakfast, I was scared that Dobbs was going to ask Wendy for a divorce in front of me and the others.

It was after we finished eating, and Wendy stepped into the kitchen, that Dobbs asked me to come with him into the other room to talk.

I could tell that he was really nervous. He looked as if he hadn’t slept and he kept changing his outfit. He said: “Okay, I am going to do this. Wish me luck.”

I did not know what to say to him, but before I could answer he grabbed me and gave me a very shaky and sloppy kiss.

It actually went better than I thought it would. At first, I was out of sight and out of hearing range, but I just could not take it any longer and I nervously peeked into the dining room at just the moment Dobbs sheepishly stated: “I want a divorce.”

I could see that Wendy was not happy. She was angry. She stomped her foot down in order to brace herself for what she did next.

She slapped Dobbs with a strong blow of her palm against his cheek.

Then she looked right at me and shouted: “Jamie get the hell in here!”

She told us both to sit down at the table.

The first thing that she said to Dobbs, once the three of us were seated, was: “Why the hell did you take so long to get around to telling me this?”

Then she said something that really freaked me out – she thanked the both of us for having the decency to not have fooled around while she and Dobbs were married.

How she knew that to be a fact was an absolute mystery to me. Then I got really scared when I thought: “Oh yeah, she has that magic mirror down in the sub-basement.

At that point, I could not stop thinking about the “other” Wendy who lived in dimension-C and who cheated on her husband with Dobbs. I must have had a really stupid expression on my face, but it was one of relief that it was all nearly over.

There was this awkward moment when Wendy looked over at me. She did not say anything. She only breathed loudly through her noise. I felt bad for her and I was about to start crying.

I looked over at Dobbs and I could see that he too was about to cry.

Then Wendy stood up and crossed around behind Dobbs. Then there was this different look on her face. She was no longer angry. Then she started: “Guys, I have a confession to make…”

Then she turned and walked over towards me and she asked rhetorically: “How many years has it been? Twelve years?”

She sat down beside me and said with a kind of a laugh: “I guess it has been a long time…”

“When you died Dobbs, I was shocked and I was sad. Then you came back. Granted you were a ghost, but at least we were still together. Then you went away and as time had gone by, I had pretty much given up. I believed that you had gone over to the Netherworld and you were never coming back.”

“I grieved a long time for you, Dobbs. It was quite painful and thinking that someday I may have to go through that once more, I sincerely did not look forward to it. Now, I actually feel relieved because the way that I think of you has now changed. Don’t get me wrong… I do still love you, but now in a different way.”

She then said: “There is something else that I think that you should know…” She then proceeded to explain how it was that Dobbs came back to life.

It was a student of hers, working behind her back, plumbing the depths of the “Claviculu Rachela” – or the Grimoire as I knew it to be called. The student discovered a reanimation ritual and she and two other students went to the cemetery this past New Year’s Eve.

It seems that the girl ran into a slight problem on her first attempt to raise up Dobbs and she managed to turn herself into a zombie. However, with the encouragement of her friends, she carried on and completed the task of raising Dobbs from the dead.

Wendy explained: “Miss Moon-unit Clemens, or a she is known by her friends, “Moo”, thought she was giving me a wonderful gift by restoring my departed husband back to life. Mainly she and her friends wanted to impress Jimmy. She is a very bright and gifted young witch. Coming up with a punishment for her and her two friends was not easy.”

Dobbs apparently has no recollection of anything prior to seeing me in the parking lot at the Bowl-a-Rama a little after midnight on the New Years Day.

But according to Wendy’s student, Dobbs got really emotional in the graveyard when he realized what had happened to him. They said that he was asking for someone named “Brianna” (and we all know who that is).

Wendy paused for a moment in reflection and then added: “I have to ask that that you two move out of the mansion. You can stay in Moonshine Falls, but you cannot stay here. You do understand, of course? In fact, I prefer that the two of you stay in town, because if you were to leave, I would miss you – both of you – very much. Jimmy needs his father and the both of you are welcome to visit here anytime. As for me, I am going to continue to think of myself as a widow rather than as I divorcee.”

Finally, she apologized to Dobbs for having slapped him and said that she hoped that it did not hurt him too much. (Boy, I will tell you, that Wendy Dawson-Dobbs in one classy lady)

Then Wendy changed the subject in a rather calm and matter of fact way: “Now let’s all go into the library. Katherine is going to do a presentation that I think we will all find very interesting.”

Uffda: Interjection signifying exhaustion, weariness, resignation, or overwhelm, especially used by those of Norwegian descent; see 'oofda'. (The Norwegian-American slang equivalent of the Yiddish term oy.) Black: Me